A look at the creator economy with Sarah Kübler

As founder and managing director of the social media agency HitchOn and the start-up NextGen Innovators, Sarah Kübler is part of an industry that has undergone and continues to undergo unprecedented professionalization - the creator economy. We spoke to the expert about how this came about and how it will continue.

nextMedia: Dear Sarah, a lot has happened in the Creator Economy. Where is the industry right now?

Sarah Kübler: I think we are currently in the "post-BraTee era". After influencers first monetized their social media reach on the platforms, the next step was to market their own products. The question was: How can I build my own "universe" with my person? A lot of people tried this and it worked very well for some of the big names, but it didn't work for many. Some people massively underestimated how challenging it is.

nextMedia: What is the appeal of wanting to launch your own products on the market?

Sarah Kübler : When I launch my own product, for example in a supermarket, it gives me a different sense of importance. I have something in real life that I can show everyone. Even my grandma sees and understands that.

nextMedia: Is the "entrepreneurship" trend here to stay?

Sarah Kübler : It certainly did last year and I think it's an exciting development. We are seeing that creators increasingly see themselves as entrepreneurs or investors.

nextMedia: You also talk about creators as investors. Can you explain that?

Sarah Kübler : The topic of investments is increasingly becoming the focus of the industry. At my second start-up NextGen Innovators, this is exactly what we are doing. We bring influencers together with the most promising start-ups so that both sides benefit from each other. It works like this: Influencers provide start-ups with a portion of their reach. In return, the influencers receive company shares in the amount of their reach. The principle already works very well for some very large influencers. With NextGen Innovators, we are changing this: we are bundling the reach of several creators so that medium-sized profiles can also become part of startup investments. This not only reduces the risk for the startups (they are no longer dependent on a single person), but also makes the model accessible to many creators. Tax law was a tough nut to crack, but we were able to solve it for both the creators and ourselves and are pleased to be able to establish a new type of creator collaboration

nextMedia: What do you think were the driving forces behind this development?

Sarah Kübler: On the one hand, creators have had a career of six and a half to eight years on average - much shorter than a professional footballer. That means there is a certain period of time in which you earn money, and usually - for the successful ones - very well. But it is finite. And I think many people have realized that. So the question arose: What happens after that? How can I make my career sustainable? That wasn't a big issue in the early days.

nextMedia: Is there also a change in the way creators see themselves?

Sarah Kübler: Yes, there is. More and more young people are saying that they want to become influencers. However, we are seeing that the creators themselves no longer want to be called influencers, but rather creators. So it's more about questions like: What am I actually doing? What value do I create with what I do? Many people continue to develop artistically or in the direction of being a founder, entrepreneur or investor and want to be perceived as such - and not, not to sound disrespectful, as the person who only makes funny promotional videos.

nextMedia: Where do you think the creator economy is heading?

Sarah Kübler: I believe that this development from creator to entrepreneur in all its facets is absolutely the future. These can be companies, agencies or product companies. Investments are also becoming relevant - many management companies have now hired financial advisors to help creators manage or invest their assets. In my opinion, all of these topics, which weren't so important in the first few years, are becoming bigger and more important. And we are noticing that there is a huge amount of interest among creators and management.

nextMedia: Do these developments have an impact on your work at HitchOn?

Sarah Kübler: Yes and no. There is still the traditional agency business, where we develop content with creators. I think what has changed massively is that creators no longer want to be booked purely as advertising space. They want to have a say and be a creative lead. They see themselves as part of the campaign and want the freedom to convey the content in their own way, and that's a good thing.

nextMedia: How big is the impact of AI on the development of the industry?

Sarah Kübler: Very big. The tools that work with AI have developed enormously and continue to do so. We benefit from this. On the one hand, creators can produce better content themselves using apps such as CapCut. On the other hand, we now use three or four tools on the agency side that can be used to prepare video material. This means that if a creator sends us footage from a shoot that needs to be optimized, we can edit it in such a way that the video quality is actually improved in the end. That's a milestone because we have less work to do. There are also fewer discussions at the end, as we can still adjust so much in post-production.

nextMedia : Has AI made foreign markets more interesting for creators?

Sarah Kübler : There are initial examples from the USA. Mr. Beast's videos, for example, are being dubbed into German and other languages. This may already be expanding the communities of the really big players. I haven't yet experienced this with German creators, as the local following is still very strong.

nextMedia: What role does the Hamburg location play for you as an entrepreneur?

Sarah Kübler : Hamburg has various advantages for us as an agency. We think that the industry here is big enough and that there are exciting players in every sector. At the same time, the distances are short - we are very well networked within the industry and are very helpful and collegial towards each other. The scene is therefore very approachable and you can quickly make the contacts you need. Hamburg is great in that respect.

nextMedia: Thank you for the interview!